1. Field of the Invention
The invention of this application relates to sleeping means for use in providing a comfortable, portable, sleeping location for a person. In particular, although not necessarily exclusively, the apparatus can be used in camping, or in other locations where a person may temporarily wish to sleep, perhaps if they are visiting other persons who do not have sufficient beds for use by them or for use by a child who is sleeping over at a friend's house. It should therefore be appreciated that the sleeping means can be used in many different environments and can be adopted to different designs to suit the particular environment.
2. Description of Related Art
For temporary sleeping accommodation, the use of sleeping bags, which typically comprise an envelope of material which has free ends along one side which can be zipped or otherwise joined together to allow the person to move into and get out of the envelope, is well known. When the envelope is zipped the person is kept warm. A problem with the sleeping bag however is that while the same may provide the warmth required by the user, if the user is lying on a floor, or an uneven surface, they can be relatively uncomfortable due to the relative hardness and/or unevenness of the surface.
It is also known for people to sleep on an inflatable mattress, with bedding placed on top of the mattress such as sheets, duvets and the like. This can provide added comfort but what typically happens during use is that the bedding moves with respect to the inflatable mattress and this can allow the person to come into direct contact with the plastic mattress material which can be uncomfortable and/or unpleasant for the person, often causing them to wake up. Alternatively, the person can slip off the mattress during sleep. This is a particular problem with children and can make the same unattractive to the child.